Distance-Based Interface Switching

ABSTRACT

A system and method of adaptive video interface switching between a mobile electronic communications device and a wearable device entail determining during an ongoing video session via a first one of the devices that an audio or video input or output mechanism on the first device is compromised. It is determined that the audio and video input and output mechanisms on a second of the devices are uncompromised. The video session is then continued using at least one of the audio and video input and output mechanisms on the second device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is related generally to mobile electroniccommunications devices and, more particularly, to systems and methodsfor adaptively selecting a user interface associated with a mobileelectronic communications device.

BACKGROUND

The cellular phone was initially created to be a phone, i.e., to allowvoice communications. Moreover, despite the many new realms into whichsmart phones have moved, many users still use their cellular phones forvoice interaction with others. To this end, most cellular phones includea built-in microphone (“mic”) as well as a number of speakers.

These speakers generally include a loudspeaker configured to projectsound that is audible to a user when the user's ear is not adjacent theloudspeaker as well as an earpiece speaker configured to project soundthat is audible only when the user's ear is adjacent the earpiecespeaker. This system generally works well, but in certain environments,sound quality at the mic or at one or both speakers may be compromised.

Before proceeding to the remainder of this disclosure, it should beappreciated that the disclosure may address some or all of theshortcomings listed or implicit in this Background section. However, anysuch benefit is not a limitation on the scope of the disclosedprinciples, or of the attached claims, except to the extent expresslynoted in the claims.

Additionally, the discussion of technology in this Background section isreflective of the inventors' own observations, considerations, andthoughts, and is in no way intended to be, to accurately catalog, or tocomprehensively summarize any prior art reference or practice. As such,the inventors expressly disclaim this section as admitted or assumedprior art. Moreover, the identification or implication herein of one ormore desirable courses of action reflects the inventors' ownobservations and ideas, and should not be assumed to indicate anart-recognized desirability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

While the appended claims set forth the features of the presenttechniques with particularity, these techniques, together with theirobjects and advantages, may be best understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsof which:

FIG. 1 is a general schematic representation of a mobile electronicdevice in which various embodiments of the disclosed principles may beimplemented;

FIG. 2 is a simplified plan view of a device context including acellular phone such as the device of FIG. 1, as well as a wearabledevice, within which embodiments of the disclosed principles may beimplemented;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of division of tasks between aphone and a wearable device in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosed principles;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of division of tasks between aphone and a wearable device in accordance with a further embodiment ofthe disclosed principles;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of division of tasks between aphone and a wearable device in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosed principles;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of division of tasks between aphone and a wearable device in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosed principles; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of division of tasks between aphone and a wearable device in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosed principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before presenting a detailed discussion of embodiments of the disclosedprinciples, an overview of certain embodiments is given to aid thereader in understanding the later discussion. As noted above, mostmobile electronic devices such as cellular phones include a loudspeakerfor use when the user's ear is not adjacent the loudspeaker as well asan earpiece speaker for use when the user's ear is adjacent the earpiecespeaker.

While this system works well in most cases, certain environments canreduce the ability of the device's mic and speakers to provide qualityvoice communications. For example, a phone may be placed in a pocket,rendering its mic and speakers covered or subject to interference suchas rubbing, or in an otherwise inconvenient location for the user. Windinterference can produce a similar drop in quality. Even distance fromthe user may cause issues, since the mic and speakers on such a devicedo not have unlimited range.

In an embodiment of the disclosed principles, a mobile communicationsdevice such as a cellular phone adaptively configures the mic andspeaker paths based on device and user context. In particular, invarious embodiments of the described principles, the device adaptivelyselects between device-borne equipment (e.g., the cellular phone mic andspeakers) and equipment (mic and speaker(s)) associated with a tablet, acomputer, or a wearable device such as a watch, arm band or otherwearable communication device.

Thus, for example, when a device is detected as stowed via internalsensors, as may happen when a phone is placed in the user's pocket, theinput and output devices in the phone may be redirected to a wirelessport in the phone input/output interface with similar components forcommunication with the tablet, computer, or wearable. The type ofcomponent engagement may be driven by the nature of the current phoneoperation. Thus, if the ongoing operation is a phone call, then the micand speaker functions may be redirected in this way. If instead, thecurrent operation is a video conference, then the phone mic and imagerfunctions may be redirected. In the case of AI context sensing, thecontext sensing may be switched from the phone to the tablet, computer,or wearable. In a further or alternative embodiment, the selection ofwhich device use for audio, video and other functions is also based onhardware considerations, such as battery level, DSP (Digital SignalProcessing) capabilities and so on.

With this overview in mind, and turning now to a more detaileddiscussion in conjunction with the attached figures, the techniques ofthe present disclosure are illustrated as being implemented in or via asuitable device environment. The following device description is basedon embodiments and examples within which or via which the disclosedprinciples may be implemented, and should not be taken as limiting theclaims with regard to alternative embodiments that are not explicitlydescribed herein.

Thus, for example, while FIG. 1 is a simplified electrical schematicdrawing illustrating components of an example mobile electroniccommunications device with respect to which embodiments of the disclosedprinciples may be implemented, it will be appreciated that other devicetypes may be used, including but not limited to laptop computers, tabletcomputers, and so on. It will be appreciated that additional oralternative components may be used in a given implementation dependingupon user preference, component availability, price point and otherconsiderations.

In the illustrated embodiment, the components of the user device 110include a display screen 120, applications (e.g., programs) 130, aprocessor 140, a memory 150, one or more input components 160 such as RFinput facilities or wired input facilities, including, for example oneor more antennas and associated circuitry and logic. The antennas andassociated circuitry may support any number of protocols, e.g., WiFi,Bluetooth, different generations of cellular service, e.g., 4G, 5G, etc.

The device 110 as illustrated also includes one or more outputcomponents 170 such as RF (radio frequency) or wired output facilities.The RF output facilities may similarly support any number of protocols,e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular including 5G, etc., and may be the sameas or overlapping with the associated input facilities. It will beappreciated that a single physical input may serve for both transmissionand receipt.

The processor 140 can be a microprocessor, microcomputer,application-specific integrated circuit, or other suitable integratedcircuit. For example, the processor 140 can be implemented via one ormore microprocessors or controllers from any desired family ormanufacturer. Similarly, the memory 150 is a nontransitory media thatmay (but need not) reside on the same integrated circuit as theprocessor 140. Additionally or alternatively, the memory 150 may beaccessed via a network, e.g., via cloud-based storage. The memory 150may include a random access memory (i.e., Synchronous Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUSDynamic Random Access Memory (RDRM) or any other type of random accessmemory device or system). Additionally or alternatively, the memory 150may include a read-only memory (i.e., a hard drive, flash memory or anyother desired type of memory device).

The information that is stored by the memory 150 can include programcode (e.g., applications 130) associated with one or more operatingsystems or applications as well as informational data, e.g., programparameters, process data, etc. The operating system and applications aretypically implemented via executable instructions stored in anon-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., memory 150) to controlbasic functions of the electronic device 110. Such functions mayinclude, for example, interaction among various internal components andstorage and retrieval of applications and data to and from the memory150.

Further with respect to the applications and modules, these typicallyutilize the operating system to provide more specific functionality,such as file system service and handling of protected and unprotecteddata stored in the memory 150. In an embodiment, modules are softwareagents that include or interact with hardware components such as one ormore sensors, and that manage the device 110's operations andinteractions with respect to the described embodiments.

With respect to informational data, e.g., program parameters and processdata, this non-executable information can be referenced, manipulated, orwritten by the operating system or an application. Such informationaldata can include, for example, data that are preprogrammed into thedevice during manufacture, data that are created by the device or addedby the user, or any of a variety of types of information that areuploaded to, downloaded from, or otherwise accessed at servers or otherdevices with which the device is in communication during its ongoingoperation.

In an embodiment, an interface manager 180 executes functions associatedwith the behaviors described herein with respect to interface selectionand rerouting. In an embodiment, a power supply 190, such as a batteryor fuel cell, is included for providing power to the device 110 and itscomponents. Additionally or alternatively, the device 110 may beexternally powered, e.g., by a vehicle battery, wall socket or otherpower source. In the illustrated example, all or some of the internalcomponents communicate with one another by way of one or more shared ordedicated internal communication links 195, such as an internal bus.

In an embodiment, the device 110 is programmed such that the processor140 and memory 150 interact with the other components of the device 110to perform a variety of functions. The processor 140 may include orimplement various modules and execute programs for initiating differentactivities such as launching an application, transferring data andtoggling through various graphical user interface objects (e.g.,toggling through various display icons that are linked to executableapplications). As noted above, the device 110 may include one or moredisplay screens 120. These may include one or both of an integrateddisplay and an external display.

In an embodiment, the input 160 and output 170 components include one ormore speakers, e.g., one or more earpiece speakers and one or moreloudspeakers, as well as one or more microphones. It will be appreciatedthat these components may be built into the device 110, oralternatively, some or all may be separate from the device 110.

Turning to FIG. 2, this figure is a simplified plan view of a cellularphone 210 such as the device 110 of FIG. 1, as well as a wearable device201. The wearable device 201 is illustrated as a watch having a mainbody 203 and a band 205, with the band 205 being configured to attachthe wearable device 201 to a user's wrist. Although further process willbe described with reference to the architecture shown in FIG. 2, itshould be appreciated by those of skill in the art that any number ofother device form factors may be used instead, including any type ofwearable device such as a badge, watch, implant and so on.

The wearable device may be similar to the device 110 of FIG. 1 withrespect to the configuration and functions of internal components. Thus,for example, the wearable device 201 may include a processor anddisplay, as well as input and output components for user interaction(e.g., mic and speaker(s)) as well as radio frequency (RF) or otherwireless interfaces for interaction with other devices such as thedevice 110 of FIG. 1. The same is applicable to non-wearable devicessuch as tablets, laptops, and so on.

As noted above, the device 210 (110 of FIG. 1) may use its ownfacilities or those of the wearable 201 depending upon the devicecapabilities, the nature of the ongoing operation and the currentcontext, including chafing or rubbing, wind noise, distance, and so on.Turning to an example of operation to improve voice communications,consider the case where a cellular phone placed in the user's purse, bagor pocket during a call. In this case, in broad terms, the cellularphone's audio downlink and uplink may be adaptively and automaticallyrouted to a BLUETOOTH port allowing the wearable mic and speaker toinstead fulfill the sound gathering and sound projecting tasks requiredduring the phone call.

The cellular link of the phone 210 may still carry the voice call, butthe device 210 will interface audibly with the user via the facilitiesof the wearable device 201. The “covered context” is determined in thissituation via the onboard sensors of the phone 210, e.g., the phone'smic, capacitive sensors, inductive sensors, inertial sensors and so on.

Consider the case where a user, during a voice call, picks up anotherdevice such as a tablet from a desk instead of the phone. This devicemay have better audio capabilities than the wearable device 201determined via internal sensing, audio assessment (rubbing, noise,levels, acoustic background, etc.) contextual sensing, and proximityfrom user. In this case, a proximity sensor may trigger pairing of thephone 201 to the new device instead of the wearable device 201. When thecovered status of the phone 210 ends (e.g., the user has removed thedevice 210 from his or her pocket) or the call is terminated, the phone210 may so inform the wearable device 201, which may in turn releaseaudio engagement, reverting the call, if still ongoing, back to phoneaudio.

In an embodiment, the wearable device 201 and mobile device 210 alsodynamically select which device is the best for audio capture givencurrent environment and context; that is, based on actual audio qualityreceived by each microphone, rather than pocket detection. In this way,when the phone 210 mic is covered by a pocket, but the wearable device201 is open for better audio streaming, the wearable device 201 may beselected to use for audio capturing.

Similarly, when the wearable device 201 is covered by the user's sleeve,but the phone 210 is open, the phone 210 may be selected to use foraudio capturing. In particular, the system analyzes the audio streamscaptured by both devices to determine which stream should be used forfurther processing. The decision may be based on the signal waveformquality, the detected noise level, or more advanced acousticinterpretation.

Turning to FIG. 3, this figure shows a process of adaptive audio pathselection in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed principles,detailing steps taken with respect to the phone 210 and the wearabledevice 201. At stage 301 of the illustrated process, a phone call iscommenced on the phone 210, e.g., by the user making or receiving acall. The phone's mic is active at this point, and at stage 303, thephone causes the wearable device's mic to activate as well.

At stage 305, speech detection on the wearable device 201 is activated,and similarly at stage 306, the phone 210 activates its speechdetection. A quality score for the speech detected at the wearabledevice 201 is generated at stage 307 and a similar score for the phone210 is generated at stage 308. In practice, one of these will be of ahigher quality than the other, but both may be adequate or only one maybe adequate. Thus the phone first checks at stage 309 whether the phoneaudio quality is too low, e.g., below a predetermined quality thresholdto support voice communications.

If it is determined at stage 309 that the phone audio quality isadequate, e.g., not too low, the process moves to stage 311 wherein thephone 210 uses its own audio facilities (mic and speaker(s)) for thecall. Otherwise, the process moves to stage 313 and the phone 210retrieves the audio quality score for the wearable devoice 201.Subsequently at stage 315, the phone 210 determines whether the wearabledevice audio quality is better than the phone audio quality, and if so,the phone 210 switches the mic and speaker(s) for the call to thewearable device 201 at stage 317. Otherwise, the phone continues to useits own mic and speaker(s) for the call.

In a further embodiment, as noted above, the phone 210 utilizes rubbingdetection rather than speech detection to make the determination as towhich audio component to use for the call. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleof such a process. At stage 401 of the illustrated process, a phone callis commenced on the phone 210, e.g., by the user making or receiving acall. The phone's mic is on at this point, and at stage 403, the phonecauses the wearable device's mic to activate as well.

At stage 405, rub noise on the wearable device 201 is gathered, andsimilarly at stage 406, the phone 210 gathers rub noise on its mic. Aquality score for the audio at the wearable device 201 is generatedbased on the collected rub data at stage 407 and a similar score for thephone 210 is generated at stage 408 with respect to rub data collectedvia the phone's mic. The phone 210 then checks at stage 409 whether thephone audio quality is too low, e.g., below a predetermined qualitythreshold to support voice communications.

If it is determined at stage 409 that the phone audio quality isadequate, the process moves to stage 411, where the phone 210 uses itsown audio facilities (mic and speaker(s)) for the call. Otherwise, theprocess moves to stage 413 and the phone 210 retrieves the audio qualityscore for the wearable devoice 201. Subsequently at stage 415, the phone210 determines whether the wearable device audio quality is better thanthe phone audio quality, and if so, the phone 210 switches the mic andspeaker(s) for the call to the wearable device 201 at stage 417.Otherwise, the phone continues to use its own mic and speaker(s) for thecall.

In an embodiment of the disclosed principles, the phone 210 uses anadaptive filter to determine environmental acoustic noise at each of thephone 210 and the wearable device 201, and uses this determination toselect an audio path for a call. FIG. 5 illustrates an example processin accordance with this embodiment. At stage 501 of the illustratedprocess, a phone call is commenced on the phone 210, e.g., by the usermaking or receiving a call. The phone's mic is on at this point, and atstage 503, the phone causes the wearable device's mic to activate aswell.

At stage 505, an adaptive gate filter is activated on the wearabledevice 201. The adaptive gate filter may be set by the user, e.g., via amenu, and attempts to detect and quantify characteristics that mayaffect speech clarity, such as wind noise, ambient traffic orconstruction noise, and so on. Similarly at stage 506, an adaptive gatefilter is activated on the phone 210. The adaptive gate filters may be,but need not be, the same on the phone 210 and the wearable device 201.

A quality score for the audio at the wearable device 201 is generatedbased on the filtered audio data at stage 507 and a similar score forthe phone 210 is generated at stage 508 with respect to filtered audiodata collected via the phone's mic. The phone 210 then checks at stage509 whether the phone audio quality is too low, e.g., below apredetermined quality threshold to support voice communications.

If it is determined at stage 509 that the phone audio quality isadequate, the process moves to stage 511, where the phone 210 uses itsown audio facilities (mic and speaker(s)) for the call. Otherwise, theprocess moves to stage 513 and the phone 210 retrieves the audio qualityscore for the wearable devoice 201. Subsequently at stage 515, the phone210 determines whether the wearable device audio quality is better thanthe phone audio quality, and if so, the phone 210 switches the mic andspeaker(s) for the call to the wearable device 201 at stage 517.Otherwise, the phone continues to use its own mic and speaker(s) for thecall.

Similar function occur, in an embodiment, with respect to AI (artificialintelligence) context data gathering. For example, when the phone 210 iscovered or otherwise substantially blocked or hindered during contextgathering, it may cause the wearable device 201 to activate its sensorsto capture AI context and pass the gathered context data to the phone.In a further embodiment, when the wearable device 201 is not engaged ina call, it can record background audio and compress the recorded audioto support always-on machine learning training in the phone 210.

With respect to video communications, the same problems of covering andblocking can occur. Thus, for example, if a user is engaged in a videoconference call and the phone suddenly became blocked, the mic andcamera path in the phone 210 are automatically switched to the wearabledevice 201 mic and camera to provide that input to the phone. The micand camera of the phone 210 may also be disabled at that point toconserve power.

In a further embodiment, the operative user interface (UI) may beswitched between the phone 210 and the wearable device 201 as needed. Inthis embodiment, the wearable device 201 maintains one or more UIprofiles representative of the phone 210. These are used to controlcertain aspects of the phone 210 when it is covered. Some examples areaudio UI to adjust or mute phone volume, phone setting UI and callhandling UI. These interfaces become active when the phone 210 isblocked to simplify and optimize the UI interface from the secondarydevice (wearable, tablet, computer) in support of the phone 210.

Thus, for example, if a user were engaging with the phone 210 (galleryviewing, phone call, texting, surfing) and the phone 210 becomesblocked, the wearable device 201 may switch its UI to its phone controlUI to continue the task occurring via the phone 210 prior to blockage(the phone control UI allows the wearable 201 to better control thephone 210). The UI functions are configured to reflect themode/operation of the phone at the time of blockage so as to allow acontinuation of the phone session on the wearable device 201.

In an alternate embodiment, if a covered phone 210 can still output orreceive good audio and is thus able to sense the environment, it maycontinue in use with respect to whatever ongoing function it can stillsupport. To that end, when a phone 210 detects that it is covered (e.g.,via its sensors or audio assessment), its input and output communicationand sensing is assessed by wearable device 201 and by covered phone 210itself.

Thus, for example, a wearable device 201 may receive the audio of thecovered phone 210 and determine if it is still good enough to use. Inthis case no audio switching is necessary. Phone sensors in the coveredphone 210 are also scanned to determine if they still can be used for AIcontextual detection within the phone 210. An example of potentialprocess flows in such situations is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring to FIG. 6, the illustrated process begins with the initiationof a phone call at stage 601. At stage 603, the phone 210 begins to useits audio facilities for the call. The phone 210 proceeds to check atstage 605 whether it is has become covered, e.g., from having beenplaced into a purse or pocket. If the phone 210 has not been covered,the process returns to stage 603 and the phone 210 continues to use itsown audio facilities for the call.

If, however, the phone 210 has become covered, as detected at stage 605,then the process flows to stage 607, wherein the phone 210 switches thecall to use the audio facilities of the wearable device 201. At stage609, the phone 210 checks that the call is still ongoing, and if so,also checks at stage 611 whether the phone 210 has become uncovered. Ifit has, the process flows to stage 603, to again utilize the phone audiofacilities for the call. Otherwise, the process returns to stage 607 andthe phone 210 continues to use the audio facilities of the wearabledevice 201 for the call.

Considering FIG. 7, this figure illustrates a process for execution whenthe user becomes distant from the phone 210 during an interaction withthe phone 210. In an embodiment, a user may be considered “distant” fromthe phone 210 when the distance between the two is greater than theaudible range of the mic or loudspeaker of the phone 210. It will beappreciated that any other suitable measure may be used instead ifdesired.

At stage 701, a phone call is initiated (made or received) via the phone210. At stage 703, the phone 210 begins to use its audio facilities forthe call, and proceeds to check at stage 705 whether the user has becomedistant from the phone 210. In an embodiment, this determined byassuming that the user is wearing the wearable device 201, and measuringthe distance between the phone 210 and the wearable device 201. Thedistance between the devices 210, 201 may be measured, for example, bymeasuring the signal quality associated with transmissions between thetwo.

If the wearable device 201 and phone 210 have not become distant, thenthe process returns to stage 703 wherein the phone 210 continues to useits own audio facilities for the call. If, however, the wearable device201 has become distant from the phone 210, as detected at stage 705,then the process flows to stage 707, wherein the phone 210 switches thecall to use the audio facilities of the wearable device 201. At stage709, the phone 210 checks that the call is still ongoing, and if so,also checks at stage 711 whether the wearable device 201 has becomedistant from the phone 210. If it has, the process flows to stage 707and the phone 210 continues to use the audio facilities of the wearabledevice 201 for the call. Otherwise, the process returns to stage 703, toagain use the phone audio facilities for the call.

As noted above, even if a device is covered, and its input or outputdevices are no longer feasible to use, RF communications may remainusable. In this case, while switching to wearable sensors, mics andspeakers is appropriate, processing tasks can still utilize the blockeddevice. This is especially helpful if, as is often the case, the phone210 has a more powerful processor than the wearable device 201.

Keeping certain tasks with a blocked device with respect to certainsignals may be determined by determining which device can process thetype of signal, what processing power is required for the processing ofthe signal, which device has adequate power, whether a device with a GPU(graphics processing unit) would be better at the required processing,and whether the blocked device is already busy with another task. Theuser may be notified via an alert on the new engaged device when a taskis run on a device, such as when processing is switched over to thedevice or when the phone 210 switches to use the audio facilities of thewearable device 201. In a further embodiment, if both devices 210, 201are covered at the same time, and as such no good device is detected,the phone 210 may increase its audio level and mic gain instead ofswitching the audio task or session to the wearable device 201.

In a further embodiment, before switching an audio or other interface tothe wearable device 201 from phone 210, the phone 210 may cause thewearable device 201 to prompt the user that the phone 210 is covered,and ask the user if the user desires to switch audio to the wearabledevice 201. This may be especially helpful, for example, in a case wherea user has purposefully covered the phone's mic momentarily to speak tosomeone nearby. In such a scenario, the user would likely not want audioto be switched away from the phone 210.

It will be appreciated that various systems and processes have beendisclosed herein. However, in view of the many possible embodiments towhich the principles of the present disclosure may be applied, it shouldbe recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to thedrawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not betaken as limiting the scope of the claims. Therefore, the techniques asdescribed herein contemplate all such embodiments as may come within thescope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.

We claim:
 1. A mobile electronic communications device implementingadaptive audio interface switching, the device comprising: at least onemicrophone (mic); at least one speaker; a data interface to a wearablecommunication device associated with a user of the mobile electroniccommunications device, the wearable communication device including a micand a speaker; a processor linked to the at least one mic and at leastone speaker of the mobile electronic communications device and to thedata interface, configured to employ the at least one mic and at leastone speaker of the mobile electronic communications device to engage inan audio call session, determine during the call session whether theuser has moved away from the mobile electronic communications deviceand, in response to determining that the user has moved away from themobile electronic communications device, activate the data link to usethe mic and a speaker of the wearable communication device to continuethe call session.
 2. The mobile electronic communications device inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured todetect during the call session that the user has moved away from themobile electronic communications device by detecting the user's physicaldistance from the mobile electronic communications device.
 3. The mobileelectronic communications device in accordance with claim 2, whereindetecting that the user has moved away from the mobile electroniccommunications device comprises measuring a distance from the mobileelectronic communications device to the wearable communication device.4. The mobile electronic communications device in accordance with claim3, wherein measuring a distance from the mobile electroniccommunications device to the wearable communication device comprisesmeasuring a signal quality associated with radio frequencycommunications between the mobile electronic communications device andthe wearable communication device.
 5. The mobile electroniccommunications device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the processoris further configured to determine whether the user has moved back tothe mobile electronic communications device and, in response todetermining that the user has moved back to the mobile electroniccommunications device, employ the at least one mic and at least onespeaker of the mobile electronic communications device to continue thecall session.
 6. The mobile electronic communications device inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to,in response to determining that the user has not moved away from themobile electronic communications device, continue to employ the at leastone mic and at least one speaker of the mobile electronic communicationsdevice to continue the call session.
 7. A method of providing anadaptive audio interface in a mobile electronic communications devicewith respect to a wearable communications device, both devices having arespective microphone (mic) and a respective speaker, the methodcomprising: employing the mic and speaker of the mobile electroniccommunications device to engage in an audio call session; determiningduring the call session whether the user has moved away from the mobileelectronic communications device; and in response to determining thatthe user has moved away from the mobile electronic communicationsdevice, employing the mic and speaker of the wearable communicationdevice to continue the call session.
 8. The method in accordance withclaim 7, wherein detecting whether the user has moved away from themobile electronic communications device comprises detecting a physicaldistance of the user from the mobile electronic communications device.9. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein detecting a physicaldistance of the user from the mobile electronic communications devicecomprises measuring a distance from the mobile electronic communicationsdevice to the wearable communication device.
 10. The method inaccordance with claim 9, wherein measuring a distance from the mobileelectronic communications device to the wearable communication devicecomprises measuring a signal quality associated with radio frequencycommunications between the mobile electronic communications device andthe wearable communication device.
 11. The method in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising subsequently determining whether the userhas moved back to the mobile electronic communications device and, inresponse to determining that the user has moved back to the mobileelectronic communications device, employing the mic and speaker of themobile electronic communications device to continue the call session.12. The method in accordance with claim 7, further comprising inresponse to determining that the user has not moved away from the mobileelectronic communications device, continuing to employ the mic andspeaker of the mobile electronic communications device to continue thecall session.
 13. A method of managing an audio interface for a systemhaving a mobile electronic communication device and a wearableelectronic communication device associated with a user, each devicehaving a respective microphone (mic) and a respective speaker, themethod comprising: engaging in an audio call session between the mobileelectronic communication device and a remote communication device usingthe mic and speaker of the mobile electronic communication device;determining that the user associated with the wearable electroniccommunication device has moved away from the mobile electroniccommunication device; and switching the audio call session to employ themic and speaker of the wearable electronic communication device ratherthan the mic and speaker of the mobile electronic communication device.14. The method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the mobileelectronic communication device is a mobile phone.
 15. The method inaccordance with claim 13, wherein the wearable electronic communicationdevice is a wireless earpiece.
 16. The method in accordance with claim13, wherein determining that the user associated with the wearableelectronic communication device has moved away from the mobileelectronic communication device comprises detecting a physical distanceof the user from the mobile electronic communications device.
 17. Themethod in accordance with claim 13 wherein determining that the userassociated with the wearable electronic communication device has movedaway from the mobile electronic communication device comprises measuringa distance from the mobile electronic communications device to thewearable communication device.
 18. The method in accordance with claim13, wherein determining that the user associated with the wearableelectronic communication device has moved away from the mobileelectronic communication device comprises measuring a signal qualityassociated with radio frequency communications between the mobileelectronic communications device and the wearable communication device.19. The method in accordance with claim 13, further comprisingsubsequently determining that the user has moved back to the mobileelectronic communications device and, in response, employing the mic andspeaker of the mobile electronic communications device to continue thecall session.
 20. The method in accordance with claim 13, wherein themobile electronic communications device is selected from the groupconsisting of a tablet computer, a mobile phone and a laptop computerand the wearable communication device is selected from the groupconsisting of a wireless earpiece and a watch device.